ANTH 102(S) Human Evolution: Down from the Trees, Out to the Stars (Same as Environmental Studies 106)

One important way of understanding what it means to be a human being is to see humankind as an evolving species. This course traces the story of our evolution, in terms of both the fossil evidence of our anatomical evolution and the archaeological, primatological, and conjectural evidence for the evolution of human behavior. We will trace five million years of human (and near-human) history as our ancestors are transformed from creatures of the forest canopy to upright scavengers of the African plains, to the fire-using species that burst out of Africa and spread across the globe, to the cold-adapted Neanderthals, to the anatomically modern humans whose ability to manipulate symbolic communication has placed footprints on the moon while bringing us to the verge of self-destruction. We will confront the scientific basis of the evolution of "races." We will examine the evidence for the evolution of gender relations, social groups, language, and technology.
Class format: lecture and discussions.
Requirements: a short written assignment and three exams.

Hour: FOIAS